Hawaii governor candidates begin fall with depleted war chests

HONOLULU (AP) - Democrat Neil Abercrombie and Republican James "Duke" Aiona are starting the general election contest for governor with depleted war chests. Abercrombie, a former congressman, had only $275,000 in his campaign treasury as of September 3 after raising $2.8 million in a highly competitive primary election race against ex-Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Abercrombie collected an additional $177,000 - but spent an unknown amount on TV ads and other purchases - in the two weeks preceding Saturday's balloting. He handily defeated Hannemann.

Lt. Gov. Aiona beat Honolulu lawyer John Carroll for the GOP nomination by 88 percentage points. But despite amassing a total of $2.8 million since early 2007, Aiona only had $487,200 in his treasury as of September 3.